Take a peek inside the world of Emipeli – a colourful, chaotic, and joy-fuelled universe where sustainability meets self-expression. Peli is a short documentary by Craig Reasons and Emily Rastas that captures the heart of Emipeli Design: wearable art, upcycled fashion, creative repair, and radical play. Filmed on the road, in the studio, and everywhere in between, this mini doc celebrates process, purpose, and the power of dressing like you mean it.
‘Finnish-Australian designer and artist behind Emipeli Design. Emily’s background includes fashion and costume design, sfx and prosthetic makeup and immersive art installations. She’s known for her work in education, sustainable fashion, prosthetic sculpture, costume and visual art. Her practice emphasizes storytelling through wearable art, encouraging self-expression and environmental responsibility’
Hi! I’m Emi, a multidisciplinary chaos craving, colour loving, dopamine dressing infused maximalist.
My practice is all about reimagining waste, championing sustainability, and making magic from the unexpected. From wearable art and painting to prosthetics and teaching tiny humans how to glue googly eyes on everything including their socks.
Swipe through to see more of my colourful world and a few fun facts at the end 💖🎨✂️
I made a big, scrappy wearable art piece in 2020 for my first solo exhibition, it served its purpose and then sat sadly in storage since. It resurfaced recently and I realised there was potential for repurpose. I patchworked pieces together to create a long scarf and a cosy bonnet and they were so incredibly fun to make, I already can’t wait to wake up in the morning and make more ✨
When @technicoloursuper888 came to me at @abbotsfordconvent@artisan_market_australia and said they would love to work with me, I responded with a big yes please!! A bit later I noticed @brookidesign had an egg shirt and next door @tvtherapy_jewellery had cutlery themed jewellery and I saw a picture in my head that matched my egg head pieces. My beautiful friend @rubymaemills from @maison_mush was at the market helping me and was the perfect model. I suggested the shoot and then ran over to @cams_kiosk and asked if we could borrow an egg, then these INCREDIBLE photos came to life ✨ I love creatives and community, and eggs 🍳
#collab #melbourne #fashion #photography #bts
I realised I lost a part of myself for a few months. I had hurdles and life stuff that forced me to activate survival mode, which came with a business mindset over creative. It's a cycle that's happened before and I'm annoyed that I didn't catch myself in it, but I think I've learnt something really crucial now. I need to play. It's actually part of my brand name, Peli literally means Play and I forgot to. I give myself credit because I was working on some serious things, but I know when those come up next time that I need to balance them with intuitive, creative, playful making. This bag was my reintroduction to that, something silly that I had no reason to make other than the idea made me smile and I wanted to. Business wasn't at the forefront of my mind while I was making this. Now it kind of is though, it is time to hand it over (see what I did there?) #handmade #whimsy #sustainablefashion #handbag
@chiarahonig was one of my first ever models in my adult career. We’ve known each other for 11 years, we met in Vienna when I was 19 and instantly connected. We collaborated on a shoot once, I made a jacket out of stuffed animals among other pieces, she made jewellery and modelled.
A few weeks ago she was in Chiang Mai and perfectly happened to be there on a day I was photographing stock, naturally she jumped in to help me.
She’s actually the person who came up with the name Emipeli and I don’t know who I’d be without her ✨
This was supposed to be a Christmas present and tomorrow is Easter Sunday, it’s taken a long time but it’s turned uni more than just a book, it’s a love letter to everyone who inspired it
#childrensbook #easteregg #story #community
